Voice of America, 00-03-09

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] GREECE / EURO (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

[02] NATO SPIES (L ONLY) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (LONDON)

[03] ALBRIGHT - EUROPE (L) BY KYLE KING (BANJA LUKA)

[04] ALBRIGHT ONITER (S ONLY) BY KYLE KING (BRUSSELS)

[05] ALBRIGHT REFUGEES (L-O) CQ BY KYLE KING (BANJA LUKA)

[06] ALBRIGHT REFUGEES (L-O)UPDATE BY KYLE KING (BANJA LUKA)

[07] GERMANY / BANK MERGER (L-ONLY) BY JONATHAN BRAUDE (FRANKFURT)

[08] GERMAN BANKING MERGER (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

[09] GERMANY'S NEW I-M-F CANDIDATE (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

[10] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

[11] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[01] GREECE / EURO (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

INTRO: Greece has become the 12th country to begin the process of adopting the Euro as its official currency. Ron Pemstein reports from Brussels that its European partners must approve the move, but Greece is expected to become a member of Euro Zone by 2001.

TEXT: Greece was the only member of the European Union (E-U) whose application to adopt the Euro was rejected when 11 other countries were accepted in 1998. The reason then was that Greek inflation, government debt and the rate of economic growth did not meet the standards of its E-U partners. In messages sent to the European Central Bank, to the European Commission, to the other European Union governments and to Portugal, as the current E-U President, Greece now says it meets European standards.

[02] NATO SPIES (L ONLY) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (LONDON)

INTRO: A British television documentary says important targeting information was leaked to Yugoslavia during the first few weeks of the NATO's Kosovo offensive. Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from London that NATO denies the report and some analysts say the spy report is just a promotion gimmick for the T-V program.

TEXT: The T-V documentary to be broadcast Sunday says a U-S military report indicates there was a spy in the NATO alliance who leaked aircraft targeting information to Belgrade during the early days of NATO's air campaign against Yugoslav forces in Kosovo. The correspondent who worked on the documentary acknowledges he did not see the contents of the classified report, but says he talked with people who did. NATO's air campaign was launched one-year ago to push Yugoslav forces out of Kosovo and end Belgrade's ethnic-cleansing campaign there. The 19-nation military operation lasted three-months. B-B-C defense correspondent Andrew Gilligan told British radio the information leak threatened the safety of allied pilots flying thousands of sorties over Serb targets. He says part of the problem was the high number of people who had access to the sensitive information during the first two-weeks of the campaign.

[03] ALBRIGHT - EUROPE (L) BY KYLE KING (BANJA LUKA)

INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has praised the efforts of moderate leaders in the Bosnian Serb Republic, saying they are setting an example for reform and tolerance. VOA's Kyle King reports from Banja Luka, where Ms. Albright wrapped up a two day visit to Bosnia.

TEXT: Ms. Albright says the trend toward economic and political reform is stronger in the Serb Republic that anywhere else in Bosnia. With Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodic sitting by her side, she said the United States is looking for partners like him to help integrate all of southeastern Europe into the democratic mainstream.

[04] ALBRIGHT ONITER (S ONLY) BY KYLE KING (BRUSSELS)

INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright meets with NATO and European officials in Brussels today (Friday) for talks on the situation in Kosovo and Montenegro. The Secretary arrived in the Belgian capital after a two-day visit to Bosnia, where she again blamed much of the trouble in the region on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. V-O-A's Kyle King has this report from Brussels.

TEXT: A U-S official traveling with Ms. Albright said the situations in Montenegro and Kosovo are expected to come up at all of her meetings Friday, because everybody is concerned. In the past week, Serb police have blocked the border with Montenegro, the smaller of the two remaining Yugoslav republics. And along Kosovo's border, Serb police have clashed with armed ethnic Albanians, sending dozens of people fleeing for safety in Kosovo. U-S officials say they are watching both hot spots very closely, and Ms. Albright will discuss the situation with NATO and European officials. She will meet (Friday) with European Union President Romano Prodi and E-U High Representative Javier Solana before holding talks with NATO Secretary General George Robertson. Secretary of State Albright has blamed extremists on both sides in Kosovo for stirring up tensions, but officials say the only government involved is the one controlled by President Slobodan Milosevic. (Signed) NEB/KBK/ENE/gm 09-Mar-2000 16:10 PM EDT (09-Mar-2000 2110 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[05] ALBRIGHT REFUGEES (L-O) CQ BY KYLE KING (BANJA LUKA)

INTRO: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has welcomed a joint Bosnian-Croatian Declaration urging war-time refugees to return home. The statement was issued in Banja Luka, during a meeting that included the Bosnian-Serb prime minister and the Croatian foreign minister. V-O-A's Kyle King reports from Banja Luka.

TEXT: The joint declaration pledges Bosnia and Croatia to help two-thousand refugees from each side of the border return home within three-months. The two countries also pledged to provide alternative housing or to evict the current occupants of the refugee's houses. Secretary of State Albright welcomed the announcement and said the United States would provide two-million dollars to finance the reconstruction of 100- unoccupied houses on each side of the Bosnian-Croatian border, marked by the Sava River.

[06] ALBRIGHT REFUGEES (L-O)UPDATE BY KYLE KING (BANJA LUKA)

INTRO: Croatia and the Bosnian Serbs have signed a declaration that would allow thousands of war-time refugees to return home. The statement was issued in Banja Luka, during a meeting that included the Bosnian-Serb prime minister, the Croatian and Bosnian foreign ministers, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. V-O-A's Kyle King reports from Banja Luka.

TEXT: Secretary of State Albright welcomed the announcement and said the United States would provide two-million dollars to finance the reconstruction of 100-unoccupied houses on each side of the Bosnian- Croatian border, marked by the Sava River.

[07] GERMANY / BANK MERGER (L-ONLY) BY JONATHAN BRAUDE (FRANKFURT)

INTRO: Two German financial giants, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank, announced a merger today/Thursday that will create one of the world's largest banks. Jonathan Braude reports from Frankfurt.

TEXT: Deutsche Bank chairman Rolf Breuer and his counterpart at Dresdner Bank, Bernhart Walter, appeared together at a news conference to make the point that they would remain joint chairmen of what they said would be a partnership of equals. But analysts say the share exchange to be offered to investors - between 60 and 64 percent for Deutsche, and 36 and 40 percent for Dresdner - made it look as though Deutsche was buying its smaller rival. The resulting institution would have a market capitalization in excess of 80-billion (U-S) dollars, and assets of one-point-two-trillion dollars. The two chairmen said the group would merge their retail banking businesses, hand Deutsche's fund management arm to insurance giant, Allianz, and keep Dresdner's fund management in house. That would lead to the closure of some 800 branches around Germany, but both men denied reports of a plan to close Dresdner's London-based investment bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. Overall job loses would be around 16-thousand people. However, the investment in e-commerce would create new jobs, said Deutsche's bank chairman, Mr. Breuer. The banks estimated the total cost savings from the deal would work out to be nearly three-billion dollars a year. Although one year's cost savings would be wiped out by initial merger costs of around three- billion dollars. But the joint chairmen insisted the deal was not a merger driven by the need for cost savings. The main goal, they said, was to create a critical mass and expand their operations worldwide. As Mr. Breuer explained, no bank could expect to present itself as a major global player if it could not also claim a similar position in its domestic market. The third partner in the deal, Allianz, will eventually dispose of its 21-point-five percent holding in Dresdner Bank to pay for its acquisitions in the fund management and insurance fields. (Signed)
NEB/JB/GE/JP 09-Mar-2000 12:10 PM EDT (09-Mar-2000 1710 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[08] GERMAN BANKING MERGER (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The merger of Germany's two biggest banks (announced Thursday in Berlin) will create Europe's biggest financial institution, and the world's second- biggest bank. V-O-A's economics correspondent, Barry Wood, has more on this 29-billion-dollar deal.

TEXT: Deutsche Bank is acquiring its Frankfurt rival, Dresdner Bank, in a move that creates a global powerhouse in banking and finance. Analysts say the acquisition reveals a new flexibility in corporate Germany, which was stunned by last month's successful hostile takeover of Mannesman by a British firm. Robert Yates, the head of European research at the London firm of Fox-Pitt Kelton, says the new Deutsche Bank is seeking a streamlined domestic operation before it mounts a new global expansion.

[09] GERMANY'S NEW I-M-F CANDIDATE (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Despite the rejection of its first nominee to head the powerful International Monetary Fund, Germany is trying again - proposing the current president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (in London). V-O-A's Barry Wood says the new candidate is not yet assured of European Union support.

TEXT: Germany appears determined to get one of its citizens into the top global financial job. Its latest candidate to head the 182-member nation I-M-F is Horst Koehler, the 57-year-old former finance ministry official who since 1998 has been the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. European Union finance ministers will meet Monday to consider their nominee for the I-M-F, which since its founding has always been headed by a European. The I-M-F job has been vacant for nearly a month since the former French central bank chief, Michel Camdessus, retired after 13 years in office. A French national has headed the I-M-F for 32 of the past 35 years. The Germans argue that as Europe's dominant economy, it is their turn to occupy the top job. Germany's first candidate ran into trouble when the Americans -- the I-M-F's biggest shareholder -- refused to endorse Caio Koch-Weser for the job. He withdrew earlier this week and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder immediately put forward the name of Mr. Koehler. Mr. Koch-Weser spent 25 years at the World Bank before becoming deputy finance minister, a job held by Mr. Koehler in the early 1990s. Germany's E-U allies appear cool to the latest nominee. Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini says Italy would prefer a candidate with more authority. Here in Washington, Alan Meltzer, an economics professor who headed a Congressional panel on reforming the I-M-F, says I-M-F candidates should have to specify how they would reform the financial agency.

[10] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

INTRO: U-S stock prices were sharply higher today (Thursday), as the technology-weighted Nasdaq market soared to a landmark level. VOA correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 154 points, or one and one-half percent, closing at 10- thousand-10. Trading among the "blue-chips" was extremely volatile. The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 35 points - a gain of over two percent. But the big story on Wall Street was the Nasdaq composite, which closed over five-thousand for the first time - for another record high. The Nasdaq gained three percent, as select technology and Internet stocks soared. The charge was led by some big "tech" names. Among them - Cisco, the leading maker of computer networking equipment, software giant Microsoft and chip-maker Intel. Analysts say those stocks are not cheap by any measure but investors are putting their money where they see the fastest growth.

[11] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Tuesday's primary elections, which narrowed the field in the U-S presidential race to two main candidates, continue to hold center stage in the nation's editorial columns. The top international topic today is the International Monetary Fund's quest for a new director, while the subject of normalizing trade relations with China is also popular. Iran's pending trial of some local Jews may give another hint of how that country's democracy movement is evolving, says one daily; while another comments on the new peace deadline in the Middle East. Now, here with a closer look and some excerpts is ___________ with today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: Reverberations from the "super Tuesday" primary elections continue to be felt in editorial columns. Some papers are looking ahead to the general campaign, now clearly a contest between Vice President Al Gore, for the Democratic Party, and Texas Governor George W. Bush, for the Republicans. Other commentators are assessing the legacy of former Senator Bill Bradley, who dropped out of the Democratic race against Mr. Gore today. And still others are speculating on the future of Arizona Senator John McCain, who has been eclipsed by Mr. Bush on the Republican side. The national daily USA Today, published outside Washington, wonders whether the general-election campaign will see a "rush to the center" by the candidates, or a push for radical change.

VOICE: The conventional wisdom says Al Gore and George W. Bush, both having embraced hot-button [emotive] constituencies to win their party primaries, must now reclaim the center to win the general election. That's certainly right, but it also poses a dilemma: How do they capture the center while also capturing the hearts of voters energized by John McCain's and Bill Bradley's pleas for change? ... That's not likely to prove easy for either party's likely nominee.

TEXT: Boston's Christian Science Monitor compares Mr. McCain and Mr. Bradley to supernovas, those bright, exploding stars in the universe around us. It suggests that, while out of the race:

VOICE: ... These two contenders aren't political black holes yet. Campaign 2000 will still be able to bask in the afterglow of their contributions to American politics. In fact, their opponents were forced to co-opt many of their flashes of brilliance.

TEXT: On that same theme, The Washington Post, says of Mr. Bradley's legacy:

VOICE: He reminded the country of the plight of people without health insurance. He promised to cut child poverty by half, [and by doing] so ending the shameful fact that it is currently double the rate ... in other rich nations. He called for gun control and campaign finance reform. He spoke passionately about race. In style, he seemed refreshingly anti-Clintonesque

TEXT: Today's Hartford [Connecticut] Courant adds this about the former New Jersey Senator's campaign.

VOICE: Mr. Bradley elevated the dialogue wherever he appeared. He gave hope to hundreds of thousands of people dispirited by politics as usual. And he added class to a profession that too often lacks it.

TEXT: Lastly on the Tuesday vote, The Wall Street Journal feels it has read clearly, the message sent by the voters.

VOICE: As the new century turns, they want the U-S Presidency contested by an identifiably liberal Democrat and an identifiably conservative Republican. And using John McCain as their vessel, they have poured forth a clear message that this campaign will also be about character and truthfulness in the American presidency, about what Senator McCain calls "pride in the practice and institutions of our great democracy."

TEXT: There is another leadership position, as yet unfilled , that is very much on the minds of editorial writers. It is the presidency of the International Monetary Fund, the big, global money lender, and today's Dallas Morning News says both "new leadership and openness are needed.

VOICE: Despite Michel Camdessus giving three months' notice he would be leaving ... the International Monetary Fund in February, the fund has still not been able to agree upon who should succeed him. The problem lies in parochial politics. And politics is one issue the fund can ill afford. As the debate surrounding the role of the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions expands, countries need to be less xenophobic in their approach to management of the institutions as well as the issues. In the International Monetary Fund's case, leadership skills as much as knowledge and suasion are important. The truth of the matter is that few agree on the best path for facilitating international economic stability.

TEXT: In additional to searching for an acceptable new director, The New York Times points out, both the I-M-F and The World Bank need some new direction, and Congress may be showing the way.

VOICE: Thanks to a congressional commission that unveiled its recommendations about the institutions yesterday, there are some bold new ideas to consider. Some of the suggestions are ill conceived, but others deserve serious consideration by the United States and other nations that belong to the two organizations. One of the biggest and best ideas ... is a call to cancel the crushing debt of the world's poorest countries. If the commission does nothing else but spur the United States and its allies to get behind this plan, it will have accomplished a lot.

TEXT: Turning to Asia, and the debate over granting China permanent normal trading status, The Atlanta Constitution praises President Clinton's efforts and says Congress should move quickly.

VOICE: [President Clinton has] buttonholed [attempted to persuade] at least 50 senators and representatives on the issue. He's set up a "war room" to coordinate the trade-deal campaign. His Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, made a major speech in Boston advocating most-favored-nation status for China. And Wednesday, [Mr.] Clinton himself made trade with China the focus of a speech at Johns Hopkins University, and he sent the enabling legislation to Capitol Hill. All this in the face of vigorous opposition from Big Labor [national trade unions] and environmentalists, two key Democratic constituencies.

TEXT: Still with Chinese affairs, Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette, says "the United States cannot afford to turn its back on ally Taiwan as China turns up the heat." He is referring to recent bellicose statements from Beijing -- coming just before Taiwan's presidential election -- that China may seek to reunite Taiwan by force if talks on reunification are not restarted soon. Mr. Greenberg concludes:

VOICE: At the dawn of a new century, we still have not learned one of the clearest lessons of the old: A democratic ally denied the means to defend itself may soon become an irresistible target, and this country will be called on to defend it. An ounce of deterrence now might prevent a world of aggression later.

TEXT: On to Africa now, and concerns about the takeover of many white-owned farms in Zimbabwe by roving mobs of blacks. In today's Rocky Mountain News, from Denver, foreign-affairs columnist Holger Jensen writes:

VOICE: The invasion was unleashed by President Robert Mugabe, who suffered the worst political defeat of his 20-year reign in a February referendum on a new constitution that would have strengthened his grip on power and allowed him to seize white-owned land without paying compensation. ... Every time he feels threatened, [Mr.] Mugabe pulls out the land reform card, saying it is immoral for 45-hundred mostly white commercial farmers to occupy two- thirds of Zimbabwe's arable land while rural blacks, who constitute 8-million of Zimbabwe's 12-point-five-million people, are either landless or jammed onto overgrazed tribal preserves. But breaking up the big landholdings would destroy the only vibrant sector of a moribund economy. ... [President] Mugabe ... is probably the most hated man in Zimbabwe. He rarely leaves his heavily-guarded residence, and then only in a bulletproof limousine. Ian Smith, on the other hand, walks the streets of Harare without fear. Once reviled as the last white Rhodesian leader to resist black majority rule, he has just come out of retirement to form a new political party because so many black supporters "want Smithy back."

TEXT: In Middle East events, the Boston Globe is closely watching the trial of 13 Iranian Jews, long imprisoned on espionage charges the paper believes are false, as a further barometer of democratic trends in that theocracy.

VOICE: Among the accused Jews are a rabbi, a couple of Hebrew teachers, and a boy who was 14 at the time of his arrest. Since any contact with the designated enemies of the Islamic revolution -- Israel and the United States -- can be defined as evidence of espionage, it is all too easy for judicial authorities to frame innocent people. The political message of a guilty verdict would be that the Islamic revolution is still threatened from within and from without by determined and powerful enemies.

TEXT: Still in the region, the Los Angeles Times is considering Israel's plan to all troops out of its southern Lebanon border security zone by July. The paper says there may be some merit to the Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah's claim that the withdrawal is a victory for its forces.

VOICE: It has a right to do so. Rising casualties have swung Israeli opinion strongly against continuing the 18-year-long occupation. ... Lebanon and Syria have long demanded an unconditional Israeli pullout. Now, as that prospect looms, they are crying foul. ... Once Israel pulls out, the Beirut regime becomes responsible for security along the border. It's unlikely to welcome that task, especially if Syria chooses to use Hezbollah for its own political ends. ... If ever there was a need for the United States to be an active broker in Middle East peace efforts, this is the moment. Israel's planned July pullout from Lebanon sets a deadline for progress. If that deadline goes un-met, a new and possibly more destructive cycle of violence could loom.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of comment from Thursday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/WTW 09-Mar-2000 11:59 AM EDT (09-Mar-2000 1659 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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